Editorial

Your Vote Counts

By Editorial Staff

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In several days, millions of Americans will head to election booths to cast their ballots. For the vast majority of Hamilton’s student body, this will mark their first opportunity to vote in a presidential election. This moment comes during an unusually fraught election cycle, the results of which will vastly alter the trajectory of our nation. While voter ambivalence has always been a problem in America to a degree, the unusual and sensationalized nature of the 2016 election has left myriad members of the electorate particularly disillusioned. Some may even be tempted to forgo voting or boycott the principles on which democratic participation is based; others may simply forget. 

Mail Center employees have mentioned that there are a large number of absentee ballots still sitting in students’ mailboxes as of Tuesday. The Spectator would like to take this opportunity to implore that students of Hamilton College recognize and act upon their democratic responsibility before this opportunity is lost. 

Though some argue that individual votes in elections do not alter the final the results, most recent polls show the two main candidates racing neck-and-neck, and we know that only a few hundred votes were the deciding factors in the contested 2000 presidential election. Moreover, in spite of our nation’s current focus on the presidential race, the ballot will feature much more than a single check box. 

In many states the ballot will include candidates for the U.S. Senate, U.S. House, State Senate, State Assembly, local judges and school boards, as well as state ballot measures and municipal elections. These are not trivial choices. They represent choosing elected officials or passing laws that may have a greater impact on our daily lives than presidential directives. The U.S. Senate approves the federal budget and confirms Supreme Court justices and the race to control the Senate is very close this year. The state senates and assemblies craft the majority of local laws and regulations. Let us not forget that controversial legislations such as the HB2 bill, which eliminated LGBT anti-discrimination protections in North Carolina, was passed through a state assembly. It could be argued that reforming policing and public education in the United States starts at the local level. 

If you have not done so already, send in your absentee ballot. Your vote counts. 

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